Optic Garden:
Houghton Drive, Johannesburg
Off-The-Shelf Magic
Using standard materials to design for a tight budget
The Optic Garden was commissioned by the Johannesburg Development Agency as part of a city-wide public art program celebrating the 2010 Soccer World Cup. The sculpture was set on a traffic island and marked one of the major routes to the inner city match venue.
The Problem
Design something cheap, yet beautiful.
Use the standard chevron sign- an off-the-shelf material that belongs on a traffic island.
The Solution
195 signs were ‘planted’ to form an optic mass measuring 30m x 6m in plan.
The common red and white patterning associated with the traffic sign were adapted to outline an iconic image, visible from the exact point of perspective of a driver approaching Johannesburg.
The project was designed to have a 5-year lifespan and needed to be robust and sturdy to handle the passing traffic.
As one rounds a bend in the approach road, the field of signs converges and aligns to reveal the outlines of a soccer playing field. Upon passing, the image fragments back into the individual signs - alluding to the temporary nature of sports events and their potential to bring people together. At night, the lights of approaching cars and taxis highlight and animate the reflective surfaces, effectively eliminating the need for additional artificial lighting and lowering the overall cost.
Carried out in collaboration with artist Maja Marx.
Project team: Anne Graupner, Thorsten Deckler, Stephen Reid, Carl Jacobs, Sue Groenewald
Featured in Architecture South Africa May/ June 2009
Photographed by John Hodgkiss
Video by Hugh Fraser